A MOTORIST who bought a car despite being banned terrified four friends as he took them on a "scary, stupid and dangerous" drive reaching speeds of well over 100mph before crashing, a court has heard.

Matthew Barrett performed handbrake turns, drifted the vehicle at several roundabouts, stayed on the wrong side of the road after overtaking another car and jerked his car so his passengers bumped against each other.

After hitting 114mph at one stage Barrett, 25, of Mendip Way, Burnham-on-Sea, lost control, hit a kerb and rolled along the carriageway before coming to a halt.

One of his passengers, Brad Page, was badly injured and was taken to hospital with a bleed on the brain, a tooth piercing his lip, cuts and scratches.

Barrett was jailed at Taunton Crown Court for 32 months after pleading guilty to causing serious injury by dangerous driving.

He received four-month (concurrent) sentences for driving while disqualified and drink driving and a five years and four months driving ban.

He was given no separate penalty for driving without insurance and ordered to pay a statutory surcharge of £170.

William Hunter prosecuting told the court that Barrett drove his friends for 13.9 miles from Yeovil late on June 9.

Mr Hunter said one passenger described his actions as "needless and dangerous and he could easily have killed someone coming in the opposite direction".

Barrett tried to convince his passengers to tell the police the driver had run off, and later in interview claimed Mr Page had been behind the wheel.

The court was told that Mr Page has suffered mental as well as physical problems since the crash and is no longer his "happy, bubbly self".

Harry Ahuja, defending, said his client is remorseful and has realised "the serious danger that he put his friends into".

"He was clearly showing off in front of his friends," added Mr Ahuja.

"He says he can't get it out of his head and can't sleep at night...because he could have killed one of his friends."

Jailing Barrett, who had 41 previous convictions for 84 offences, Judge David Ticehurst said: "Your passengers described your driving as 'scary, stupid and dangerous'.

"Despite their protestations and fears, you carried on driving in a dangerous way. You're very lucky no-one was killed."